Psychiatric Evaluation
by MissMouseMD
Summary: And even though he never says his name, they know that he is Jack. SemiJate. Oneshot.


**Title:** Psychiatric Evaluation

**Author:** MissMouseMD

**Rating:** K+

**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

**A/N:** I am in a very Lost-ish mood, possibly because I borrowed the first season DVDs from my friend and have been watching them all day. How I spent my summer vacation. Anyway, please tell me what you think. Please?**

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**The Guard**

John Hammond walked down the dreary halls of the California State Institution for the Mentally Ill. He checked each and every room, to make sure there wasn't any trouble.

He was lucky. All was well.

He stopped at the last room. He knew that there wouldn't be problems with this one.

He peered through the tiny, reinforced window. As he had expected, the room's occupant was curled at the end of her bed.

He felt sorry for the woman. She never moved from that spot unless she absolutely had to.

During recreation and group therapy, she was silent.

She has no visitors. No family. No friends.

She hasn't said one word since she was admitted a year ago.

He knows about her. About what happened to get her here.

He knows that she's supposed to be in prison. That she was in prison, until she withdrew completely and refused to eat, speak, or even get up.

That she was rushed to the hospital. She almost didn't make it.

And now she just sits, staring straight ahead at nothing.

It's hard to believe that this is the same person who killed a man and was responsible for the death of another.

She's so tiny, so frail, and so lifeless. It doesn't seem possible that she could take a life.

He sighs, and walks away.

It will always be a mystery to him.

**The Nurse**

Angela Bauer has been a nurse at the hospital for twenty years, and she's never seen anything like this.

She knows this woman isn't really insane.

Depressed, and lonely, yes. But not insane.

She's damn good at faking it, though. With the silence and the lack of emotion and the constant rocking back and forth.

She unlocks the door, and walks in.

"Well, Kate, how are we feeling today?"

She's greeted with silence. As expected.

She turns to leave, when a hand reaches out and grabs her wrist. She gasps in surprise.

"Kate? Is everything okay? Kate?"

And for a moment, she sees pain and desperation and maybe the littlest bit of fear.

She's never seen the woman show emotion before.

"Jack?"

"What? Kate, who's Jack?"

But she is greeted only with silence.

Kate withdraws her hand, and curls back up. She's shut herself down again, immune to the outside world.

Angela sighs, and scribbles in Kate's chart.

_Friday, September 24th. Patient asked for "Jack". Who is Jack?_

She exits the room quietly.

That poor woman.

**The Doctor**

"Who's Jack, Kate?"

She does not reply. He knows she will not reply.

He's gotten used to it.

He finds it almost refreshing.

Because while this woman is far from healthy or sane, at least she's quiet.

There's only so much raving psychosis a man can take, really.

Some days, he wants to just relax during the thirty minutes she's there.

Kick his feet up, read a newspaper.

But he feels obligated to at least try to break down the barrier she shields herself with.

"Was Jack on the island with you, Kate?"

There's something. A flicker of something crosses her face.

She nods, almost imperceptibly.

He sits up straighter.

"And where is Jack now, Kate? Do you know?"

She shakes her head so faintly it looks as though she just has a twitch.

But he knows better.

He's been doing this a long, long time.

"What was so special about Jack, Kate?"

But she's closed off once again, her face unreadable.

She retreats back into silence.

He continues to ask questions that will remain unanswered.

But she no longer hears him.

No longer responds.

**The Visitor**

She has been there for one year, three months, and four days when she first gets a visitor.

He seems uncomfortable. Awkward.

He obviously thinks he shouldn't be there.

But he goes in to see her all the same.

And the change in her is amazing.

He sits on the edge of her bed.

Normally, visitors aren't allowed in patients' rooms.

But he's a doctor, he explains.

They let him in, mostly out of pity for her.

After all, a year is an awfully long time to go with out anybody to see you.

He talks to her for a long time.

At first, it's as though he's talking to air.

But then, she slowly begins to unclench.

She moves so that she's sitting beside him.

She pushes the hair that so often covers her face behind her ears.

Something close to a smile graces her lips.

She really is pretty when she smiles.

The nurse, the doctor, and the guard watch her become someone else, overcome with shock.

She speaks to this man.

Holds a conversation.

He holds her hand, and she smiles, a real smile this time.

The transformation is miraculous.

But then he has to leave, and it's like nothing ever happened.

She curls up at the end of the bed, and her face is blank.

Everything is locked inside.

And even though he never says his name, they know that he is Jack.

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**Review.**


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